GLIMPSES OF KOREA AND CHINA
STREET SPRINKLING: PEKING, CHINA (SEE PAGE 930)
claim some scientists have made that this
serpent-like structure is the only object
on the earth's surface which can be dis
tinguished by our distant neighbors on
the planet Mars.
Mr. Toole's account of the Great
Wall, while humorous, contains some
historical facts. Hef says: "The most
important building in China is the Great
Wall, built to keep the Tartars out. It
was built at such enormous expense that
the Chinese never got over it, but the
Tartars did. The way they accomplished
the feat was 'One went first and t'others
went arter.' "
Wedding processions, always interest
ing in every land, are quite spectacular
in China, and, like funeral pageants, are
preceded by music, if the sounds pro
duced by the pipers can be so termed.
In the street procession the groom ap
pears to have no part, his chair, borne by
eight coolies, forming an independent
parade.
The variety and splendor of funeral
processions is one of the features of
Peking. There is a Chinese proverb
which reads, "The most important thing
in life is to be buried well."
If this im-
plies being placed well underground, the
conditions are not generally carried out,
for in no country, according to our ob
servation, were so many half-buried
coffins seen as here; but if the reference
is to pomp and extravagance, could the
deceased have seen the displays it was
our privilege to view they would have
crawled back to their caskets to resume
their long sleep with the consciousness
that the purpose of their lives had been
most satisfactorily achieved.
The city of the dead in Canton, South
China, has storage capacity for 500 cas
kets. This silent city is made up of a
great number of small one-story stone
buildings, each house having two rooms
ofabout8by16feetinsize. Acum
brous coffin with the name of the de
ceased inscribed in Chinese characters on
the foot occupies each room. The only
other object in the room is a small shrine
near the entrance, upon which light re
freshments are placed. Here, amid the
fragrance of smouldering incense, the
spirit of the departed may daily enjoy
a quiet cup of tea and a small cake, pro
vided that surviving relatives continue
to pay the expense.
931